Device for mixing conductive liquids with reagents

ABSTRACT

A device for mixing conductive liquids with reagents in which a vessel is provided with a discharge pipe. A reversible electromagnetic inductor is installed near the discharge pipe so that the mechanical force created due to the interaction of the magnetic field developed by the inductor with the currents induced in the conductive liquid is sufficient for discharging the liquid through the discharge pipe.

United States Patent 72] Inventors Vladimir Mikhailovich Foliforov ulitsa Gorkogo, 145/4, kv. 85; Boris Nikolaevich Ukraintsev, ulitsa L. Paegle, 24, kv. 6; Georgievich Sirotenko, ulitsa Strelkovava, l9, kv. 3; Aivar Eduardovich Tinte, ulilsa Moskovskava, 266/3, kv. 5; Boris Lvovich Birger, ulitsa Kranorarmeiskaya, 6, kv. 3; Aivar Yanovich Vilnitis, ulitsa Daugavgriv ls, 132/6, kv. 21'; Nikita Mikhailovich Nadezhnikov, ulitsa Ersikas; Mark Ilich Grinshteen, F. Engelsa, 19, kv. 13, all of Riga, U.S.S.R. 21 AppLNo. 832,341 22 Filed June 11,1969

[45] Patented Oct. 19, 1971 [S4] DEVICE FOR MIXING CONDUCTIVE LIQUIDS WITH REAGENTS 7 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs.

[52] U.S. Cl 266/34 A, 75/81, 417/50 [51] Int. Cl C210 7/00, C2lc 7/10- [50] Field of Search 266/34 A;

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,552,876 5/1951 Tama 417/50 X 2,573,319 10/1951 Dreyfus et al. 266/34 A UX 2,707,718 5/1955 Tama 417/50 X 3,196,795 7/1965 Baker 417/50 3,314,670 4/1967 Kennedy 266/34 A 3,333,189 7/1967 Barkan et a1.. 417/50X 3,263,283 8/1966 Allard 417/50 X Primary Examiner-James M. Meister Attorney-Holman & Stern ABSTRACT: A device for mixing conductive liquids with reagents in which a vessel is provided with a discharge pipe. A reversible electromagnetic inductor is installed near the discharge pipe so that the mechanical force created due to the interaction of the magnetic field developed by the inductor with the currents induced in the conductive liquid is sufficient for discharging the liquid through the discharge pipe.

PATENTEDUET 19 [an 3, 6 14,080

sum 10F 2 I PATENTEDHU 19 Ian 3.614.080

' sum 2 or 2 DEVICE FOR MIXING CONDUCTIVE LIQUIDS WITH REAGENTS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to equipment for processing conductive liquids and is designed for their purification by mixing with reagents. Most effectively, this invention can be utilized for converting filtered mercury into industrial mercury or a mercury of various degrees of purity at mercuryproducing enterprises and for primary or periodical purification of mercury to the required degree of purity at enterprises utilizing mercury in various technological processes. The device can also be used to advantage under laboratory conditrons.

Known in the art are purifiers used, for example, for purifying mercury in which mercury is mixed with a reagent by means of mechanical agitators (see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,440,456, 1948 However, these purifiers fail to ensure a highly effective mixing of mercury with the reagent and, in addition, the mercury is polluted with the metal of the agitator arms.

Also known are purifiers in which mercury is purified by passing it through a number of consecutive vessels with detergents (see Patent of Czechoslovakia No. 1 I l,5l 1, I968).

The basic disadvantage of these devices is their complex design incorporating a large number of vessels with detergents, a difficulty for conveying mercury from one vessel into another, and the ensuing low output.

There are also devices in which the conductive liquids are mixed with reagents due to the efiect of a magnetic field (see Transactions of the Kirov Urals Polytechnical institute, Vol. 133 Electromagnetic mixing of molten metals, pp. 34-35, Sverdlovsk, I963).

The known devices comprise a vessel provided with a conductive liquid and a reagent, and an electromagnetic inductor located inside or outside the vessel.

The magnetic field generated by the inductor interacts with the currents in the conductive liquid, thus mixing it with the reagent. These devices allow the conductive liquid to be mixed without the use of mechanical means, but cannot ensure conveyance of the liquid from the vessel. Moreover, the contact surface of the conductive liquid with the reagents in these devices is small.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A particular object of the invention is to provide a device for mixing a conductive liquid with reagents which ensures recirculation of the conductive liquid through the reagent and, at the same time, provides for pumping out and conveying the liquid, and limits the entrainment of the reagent by the pumped-out liquid.

This object is achieved by providing a device for mixing conductive liquids with reagents comprising a vessel with an electromagnetic inductor for mixing, in which the vessel has a discharge pipe located in the zone of action of the electromagnetic inductor, the latter being made reversible so that the mechanical force produced by the interaction of the magnetic field generated by the inductor with the currents induced in the conductive liquids would be sufficient for discharging the liquid through the discharge pipe.

The section of the discharge pipe located in the zone of action of the electromagnetic inductor may take the form of a space limited by the wall of the vessel and a partition set approximately parallel to this wall, or of a space limited by the bottom of the vessel, said bottom being inclined and ascending towards the liquid discharge and by a partition located approximately parallel to the bottom of the vessel.

The discharge pipe may be located outside the vessel.

It is practicable that the vessel be provided with at least one recirculation pipe located in the zone of action of the electromagnetic inductor in order to combine mixing of the liquid with its recirculation through the reagent. It is also practicable that the recirculation and discharge pipes be connected with the vessel in such-a manner that the direction of the liquid flow in the sections of the recirculation and discharge pipes located in the zone of action of the inductor would be opposite during mixing to its flow during discharge. It is possible to connect the discharge and recirculation pipes consecutively and put them in communication with the lower part of the vessel through shutoff fittings. In this case it is expedient to make the shutofi" fittings in the form of nonretum valves. it is desirable to provide the vessel with guide plates for the conductive liquid, said plates being located above the inlet hole of the recirculation pipe and lengthening the path of the conductive liquid through the reagent. It is practicable that a device for dividing the flow of conductive liquid be installed before the inlet hole of the recirculation pipe. It is possible to place a hydraulic seal before the inlet hole of thedischarge pipe to separate the reagent from the conductive liquid.

Given below is a detailed description of the invention by way of example with reference to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device for mixing conductive liquids with reagents, according to the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1, with an inclined bottom for the vessel and an inclined electromagnetic inductor;

FIG. 3 is a longitudinal sectional view of another embodiment of the invention with a recirculation pipe;

FIG. 4 is an enlarged view of the device for dividing the flow of the conductive liquid taken in the direction of arrow A in FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a view taken along line V-V in FIG. 3, the view looking in the direction of the arrows;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the device of the present invention with consecutively connected discharge and recirculation pipes and shutoff fittings.

The device for mixing conductive liquids, for instance mercury, with a reagent comprises a vessel 1 (FIG. 1) made of a material which does not pollute the conductive liquid in the process of purification. The lower part of the vessel 1 has a partition 2 located approximately parallel to bottom '3 of the vessel and forming, together with the bottom 3, a discharge pipe 4.

In the embodiment of the device claimed herein, the partition 2 terminates short of one of the sidewalls of the vessel 1. To improve mixing of the conductive liquid with the reagent and its pumping out of the vessel 1, the partition 2 may be of a ferromagnetic material. Located under the vessel 1 is an electromagnetic reversible inductor 5 serving for mixing the conductive liquid with'the reagent and for pumping it out of the vessel 1. The vessel is filled with a conductive liquid 6 and a reagent 7. The vessel 1 may be provided with an inclined bottom 8 (FIG. 2), and in this case the inductor may be less powerful because pumping out of the conductive liquid is facilitated due to a low lifting height of the liquid 6 in a discharge pipe 9.

Shown in FIG. 3 is another embodiment of the device for mixing the conductive liquid 6 with the reagent 7 comprising a vessel 1. A discharge pipe 10 whose section 11 located in the zone of action of electromagnetic inductor 5 is a rectangular slot in cross section and a recirculation pipe 12 whose section 13 located in the zone of action of the electromagnetic inductor 5 is similar to the section II of the discharge pipe 10. Hereinafter, the sections 11 and 13 of the pipes 10 and 12 located in the zone of action of the electromagnetic inductor 5 will be referred to as working sections.

Mounted under an inlet opening 14 of the recirculation pipe 12 in the vessel 1 are inclined guide plates 15 functioning to lengthen the path of the conductive liquid 6 through the reagent 7. A flow divider l6 installed at the inlet opening 14 of the recirculation pipe 12 divides the flow of the conductive liquid 6, breaking it up into separate drops. The flow divider I6 (FIG. 4) may be in the fonn of a perforated strip.

The vessel 1' is provided with a hydraulic seal 18 (FIG. 5) located at inlet opening 17 of the discharge pipe 10 and preventing the reagent 7 from moving from the mixing zone of the vessel 1' into the zone near the inlet opening 17 of the discharge pipe 10.

In FIG. 6 is illustrated yet another embodiment of the device. A pipe 19 which is the beginning of the recirculation pipe 12 is fitted with a nonretum valve 20 and is connected to a pipe 21 which constitutes the end part of the discharge pipe 10 whereas a pipe 22 which is the beginning of the discharge pipe 10 has a nonretum valve 23 and is connected with a pipe 24 which constitutes the end part of the recirculation pipe 12.

In addition, the working sections 11 and 13 of the discharge pipe 10 and recirculation pipe 11, respectively, are consecutively connected by a pipe 25.

This connection is intended to step up the capacity of the device since, the inductor power being the same, the quantity of the conductive liquid passed through the reagent, i.e. the consumption of such liquid, is increased considerably due to a twofold increase in the length of the working section during recirculation.

The device functions as follows:

As the electromagnetic inductor is activated (FIGS. 1, 2) for the mixing duty, the travelling magnetic field generated by the inductor 5 induces currents in the conductive liquid 6 and interacts therewith, thus creating the forces which start moving the conductive liquid in the direction of the travelling magnetic field.

Hence, the conductive liquid starts continuously moving in the vessel 1, is mixed with the reagent, washed by the latter, with resultant washing out (or dissolving) of the impurities. The standard of purification of the conductive liquid depends on the intensity of its mixing with the reagent and the operating time of the electromagnetic inductor 5. The mixing intensity can be controlled by changing the supply voltage of the electromagnetic inductor 5. At the end of the purification process, the electromagnetic inductor 5 is switched over to the discharge duty. The direction of the travelling magnetic field changes and the forces created in the conductive liquid ensure its movement through the discharge pipe 4 (FIG. 1, or 9 in F IG. 2) and its pumping out of the vessel 1.

When the device is as shown in FIG. 3, on activating the electromagnetic inductor 5 to the mixing duty, the conductive liquid fills entirely the working sections 1 1 and 13 of the pipes 10 and 12 and flows from the lower part of the vessel 1' through the working section 13 of the recirculation pipe 12 into the upper part of the vessel 1' (the route of the conductive liquid during mixing is shown by dotted arrows in the drawings, while its route during discharge is shown by solid arrows). The conductive liquid passes through the flow divider l6 and is broken down into drops, after which it flows over the inclined guide plates 15 through the reagent 7 being washed thereby and into the lower part of the vessel 1' from which it moves along the already described route onto the inclined guide plates. This circulation of the conductive liquid goes on continuously until the liquid becomes completely purified. As the purification process is completed, the electromagnetic inductor 5 is switched over to move the liquid in the direction of discharge. In this case, the conductive liquid will be conveyed from the lower part of the vessel 1 through the discharge pipe 10 with its working section 1 1 located in the zone of action of the electromagnetic inductor 5.

The discharge of the reagent 7 together with the pumpedout conductive liquid 6 is prevented by the hydraulic seal 18. The conductive liquid remaining in the recirculation pipe 12 and discharge pipe 10 will be treated for the second time after a new portion of liquid is delivered for purification but, as the remaining quantity of the liquid constitutes but a small proportion of the conductive liquid being purified, this does not affect the capacity of the device.

When the device is in conformity with F IG. 6 then, when the electromagnetic inductor 5 is switched over to the mixing duty, the conductive liquid will flow from the bottom part of the vessel 1" into the pipe 19, through the nonretum valve 20,

workin section 13, pipe 25, working section 11, pipe 24 and, throug the flow dlvi er 16, will enter again the vessel 1" m which it will come in contact with the layer of reagent, moving over the guide plates 15. Then the conductive liquid will flow again into the pipe 19 and continue circulating until the required degree of its purification is reached.

The purified conductive liquid is discharged through the pipe 22, nonretum valve 23, working section 11, pipe 25, working section 12 and pipe 21.

The consecutively connected working sections 11 and 13 increase the head built up by the inductor 5 both during recirculation and discharge of the conductive liquid which increases the capacity of the device.

The present device ensures a high degree of purification of the conductive liquid, and its conveyance.

A consecutive installation of a number of the present devices utilizing different reagents allows purification of mercury from organic and metallic impurities, followed by its washing in distilled water, alcohol and other detergents, and ensures a daily capacity of 6 to 8 tons.

The contact area between the purified liquid and the reagent in these devices is increased 10 to 1,000 times as compared with the known devices.

The capacity of the devices can be controlled within a broad range to suit the required degree of purification and other local requirements by changing the operating time of each device and the supply voltage of the electromagnetic inductors.

The present device makes it possible to automate the process of mercury purification. The number of the shutoff fittings in the device is reduced to a minimum. The absence of moving parts in the device excludes additional pollution of mercury with lubricants, as well as the leaks and evaporation of mercury into the atmosphere. The losses of mercury together with the pollution of air in industrial buildings are sharply decreased. s

What is claimed is:

l. A device for mixing conductive liquids'with reagents comprising a vessel provided with a discharge pipe; at least one recirculation pipe for said vessel; a reversible electromagnetic inductor for pumping, installed near said discharge and recirculation pipes so that the mechanical force created due to the interaction of the magnetic field generated by the inductor with the currents induced in the conductive liquid is sufficient for pumping the liquid through the discharge and recirculation pipes.

2. The device according to claim 1, in which the recirculation and discharge pipes are operably connected with the vessel so that the direction of flow of the conductive liquid in the sections of the recirculation and discharge pipes located in the zone of action of the electromagnetic inductor during mixing is opposite to its direction during discharge.

3. The device according to claim 1, in which the discharge and recirculation pipes are consecutively connected and placed in communication with the lower part of the vessel through shutoff fittings.

4.'The device according to claim 7, in which the shutoff fittings are nonreturn valves.

5. The device according to claim 1, in which the vessel is provided with guide plates for the conductive liquid, with said plates being located under an inlet opening of the recirculation pipe.

6. The device according to claim 1, including a device for dividing the flow of the conductive liquid, and said device being installed before an inlet opening of the recirculation pipe.

7. The device according to claim 1, including a hydraulic seal installed before an inlet opening of the discharge pipe serving to separate the reagent from the conductive liquid. 

1. A device for mixing conductive liquids with reagents comprising a vessel provided with a discharge pipe; at least one recirculation pipe for said vessel; a reversible electromagnetic inductor for pumping, installed near said discharge and recirculation pipes so that the mechanical force created due to the interaction of the magnetic field generated by the inductor with the currents induced in the conductive liquid is sufficient for pumping the liquid through the discharge and recirculation pipes.
 2. The device according to claim 1, in which the recirculation and discharge pipes are operably connected with the vessel so that the direction of flow of the conductive liquid in the sections of the recirculation and discharge pipes located in the zone of action of the electromagnetic inductor during mixing is opposite to its direction during discharge.
 3. The device according to claim 1, in which the discharge and recirculation pipes are consecutively connected and placed in communication with the lower part of the vessel through shutoff fittings.
 4. The device according to claim 7, in which the shutoff fittings are nonreturn valves.
 5. The device according to claim 1, in which the vessel is provided with guide plates for the conductive liquid, with said plates being located under an inlet opening of the recirculation pipe.
 6. The device according to claim 1, including a device for dividing the flow of the conductive liquid, and said device being installed before an inlet opening of the recirculation pipe.
 7. The device according to claim 1, including a hydraulic seal installed before an inlet opening of the discharge pipe serving to separate the reagent from the conductive liquid. 